Annotation:Jenny Nettles (3)
Tune properties and standard notation
JENNY NETTLES [3]. AKA - "Jinny Nettle," "Johnny Nittle." Old-Time, Breakdown. USA, Missouri. A Major. AEae tuning (fiddle). AABB'. No relation to the Scottish tune "Jenny Nettles (1)," nor Marion Thede's "Jenny Nettles (2)" (a version of "Old Charlie Deckard"). This is undoubtedly the version whose title appears in a list of traditional Ozark Mountain fiddle tunes compiled by musicologist/folklorist Vance Randolph, published in 1954. The tune does not appear in either of R.P. Christeson's books (Old Time Fiddler's Reprtory, vols. 1 & 2), points out Drew Beisswenger (2008), however, he did include several other tunes by source George Helton, one of many fiddlers from the extended Missouri family. Christeson did include a sound recording of Helton playing "Jinny Nettles" on his 1976 companion album, however. Beisswenger (2008) says the tune has similarities to the popular British Isles tunes "Money Musk" and "Grieg's Pipes," and also to the more obscure "Maid of Argyle's (The)" and "Kilwinning's Steeple," the latter both printed in Ryan's Mammoth Collection (Elias Howe, Boston, 1883).
Source for notated version: George Helton (Meta, Maries County, Mo.) [Beisswenger & McCann].
Printed sources: Beisswenger & McCann (Ozarks Fiddle Music), 2008; p. 188.
Recorded sources: Missouri State Old Time Fiddlers' Association, George Helton - "Old Time Fiddler's Repertory" (1976. Originally recorded 1956). Rounder CD-0435, Cecil Goforth - "Traditional Fiddle Music of the Ozarks, vol. 1."